Thomas Allogenese
25 September 2012, 03:26 AM
Hello to one and all.
I am American of mixed European lineage, raised in a secular household. For as far back as I can recall, I have always had a deep interest in religion, science, philosophy, and other such ways of asking questions.
As my family is secular, I was not raised in any particular religious tradition, but was encouraged by my parents to explore far and wide; growing up, we were not wealthy, so my parents would not always buy me toys, but any time we were near a book store they would always let me pick out a book. Needless to say, with such a policy in place my library grew rapidly once I was mature enough to take an active interest in reading for its own sake.
I spent most of my teenage years and early twenties exploring everything from Western occultism and neopaganism to contemporary Protestantism and even satanism. Eventually, I found my way to the scriptures of ancient Hermetism, such as Corpus Hermeticum, and felt that there was much more here than anywhere else I had looked. As I dug, I began to find the connections from Hermetism to Christianity and Judaism by way of Sethianism ("Gnosticism") and Valentinianism, and, of course, to other Hellenistic and Egyptian religious philosophies such as Platonism and Pythagoreanism. During all of this time, I would also periodically pick up a book on "Eastern philosophy", such as Zen Buddhism or Taoism. Through these and some books on modern Hermetism, I was led into reading on Advaita Vedanta and Saivism.
Today, I would say that I am a Saivite with a decidedly advaitic approach, a devotion to Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi, a deep love for Jesus Christ, and a perspective on other religions informed by the school of Perennialism (which states, in short, that all authentic religious revelations are upwellings of the Perennial Wisdom, or Sanatana Dharma, appropriate to the time and people for whom it arose). I have no formal initiations into Saivism or Advaita Vedanta, nor am I formally under anybody's tutelage; I pray fervently to God that I will soon be brought to my Guru.
I hope to learn a lot, here, and am thankful for the opportunity to share in this community.
In peace profound.
I am American of mixed European lineage, raised in a secular household. For as far back as I can recall, I have always had a deep interest in religion, science, philosophy, and other such ways of asking questions.
As my family is secular, I was not raised in any particular religious tradition, but was encouraged by my parents to explore far and wide; growing up, we were not wealthy, so my parents would not always buy me toys, but any time we were near a book store they would always let me pick out a book. Needless to say, with such a policy in place my library grew rapidly once I was mature enough to take an active interest in reading for its own sake.
I spent most of my teenage years and early twenties exploring everything from Western occultism and neopaganism to contemporary Protestantism and even satanism. Eventually, I found my way to the scriptures of ancient Hermetism, such as Corpus Hermeticum, and felt that there was much more here than anywhere else I had looked. As I dug, I began to find the connections from Hermetism to Christianity and Judaism by way of Sethianism ("Gnosticism") and Valentinianism, and, of course, to other Hellenistic and Egyptian religious philosophies such as Platonism and Pythagoreanism. During all of this time, I would also periodically pick up a book on "Eastern philosophy", such as Zen Buddhism or Taoism. Through these and some books on modern Hermetism, I was led into reading on Advaita Vedanta and Saivism.
Today, I would say that I am a Saivite with a decidedly advaitic approach, a devotion to Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi, a deep love for Jesus Christ, and a perspective on other religions informed by the school of Perennialism (which states, in short, that all authentic religious revelations are upwellings of the Perennial Wisdom, or Sanatana Dharma, appropriate to the time and people for whom it arose). I have no formal initiations into Saivism or Advaita Vedanta, nor am I formally under anybody's tutelage; I pray fervently to God that I will soon be brought to my Guru.
I hope to learn a lot, here, and am thankful for the opportunity to share in this community.
In peace profound.